Open Frame Speaker Stands

[Oli]

I am thinking of building a pair of open frame loudspeaker stands. Does anyone have any suggestions? e.g. suitable materials, format etc.

[moray james]

at Skylan stands. These are about as good as they get. You can probably purchase a set for less than your time and materials. Having known the owner of Skyla for a long time I can say that he knows what he is doing thought the designs look simple there is a wealth of clever design in them. Harbeth like his stands very much and that has to count for something. Regards Moray James.

http://www.skylanstands.com/

[Oli]

Thanks for your reply.

I do agree that a pair of speaker stands may involve a lot of effort, but it amazes me that whilst some DIY enthusiasts are prepared to audition the effects of individual passive components in their DIY equipment e.g. resistors, capacitors etc. there does not seem to be a similar emphasis on experimentation with speaker stands.

I am currently using a pair of Atacama SE24 sand filled speaker stands- high mass, single column construction. I am using Dynaudio Gemini D'Apollito configuration loudspeakers.

What started me on this thread was experimenting with an old pair of low mass, open frame stands (manufacturer unknown). These are currently supporting plants in my garden! I had not attempted to use these stands following several speaker upgrades.

There was a massive improvement in the openess of the soundstage, with no obvious detrimental effects. Unfortunately, these stands are too short for my purpose.

Having experimented with a number of excellent ideas from contributors to DIY Audio, I wonder if there are any any interesting ideas for open frame stands, with a sound (excuse pun) design philosophy.

[Salas]

I am preparing a pair of 42cm height, 4 x hollow column mass loaded (cat litter sand) mdf stands in the next 10 days for Harbeth SHL5. I will use resilient coupling to speaker and floor so to continue the lossy approach of the boxes. Will let you know about the results in due time.

[Oli]

Thanks for your input!

[moray james]

thin wall pvc pipe (not thick wall) the softer the vinyl the better (more loss). Four colums works very well. If you use medium or high density fiber board do not cut grooves or slots to position the pipes as this will eliminat the strength of the coupling point between the pipe and the base/top. All of the strength in these board products is in the "skin" or surface of the board which is heavily compressed. Ues instead a thin 3/32-1/8 inch block that you glue into place and which fits the id of the pipe. Ues a 1/4 20 threaded rod up the middle with a washer and nut top and bottom to tension in place torque hand tight and drill a hole on the base to fill with sand cover hole with packing tape. All simple enough but i can assure you that Noel will sell you a set to your exact spec for lell than you can build one. Noel has developed a lot of unseen technology into his stands and the wor a charm and look very professional. Harbeth demo on Skylan's in america at the shows. Tres use noels platforms under thier tables too. Noel has custom tube alloy made up here in Canada for his pillars. Further Noel is a fine fellow to know and deal with. You can see reviews on some of his product at 6 moons. Hope this helps. Consider supporting the little guy with a better idea. Regards Moray James.

[Salas]

The stands are ready and sound wonderfully neutral under the Harbeth SHL5. Here is a pic of a taller version I kept for general use.
Columns are 6x9cm filled with cat litter sand. 19mm MDF is the material and 3M translucent bumpons are used for feet. Screws and woodglue are holding the plates to the columns.